Contribute
Register

Music production dream build advice? (9900K)

Status
Not open for further replies.

pli

Joined
Dec 2, 2012
Messages
7
Motherboard
Asus Prime Z390-A
CPU
i9-9900K
Graphics
GTX 1080
Hi,

So I've done a lot of research for this build, but I'm by no means sure if it would work. I'm trying to make the perfect production machine in this price range, after a lifetime of working with inferior technology I finally have the finances to go all in on a build. My current computer is a MacBook Pro Mid-2012, which is always lagging and it's just killing my productivity. I use it mostly with Ableton 10 and Cubase 9.5. I'm trying to keep in mind that single core power is a big thing for music production computers, therefore the only processors I've considered are 8086K and 9900K.

I understand that the CPU and MOBO aren't even officially out yet, but how does the rest of this look? I've googled myself senseless, but maybe there's something I missed regarding these components?

That said I'm fairly sure the 9900k is the CPU I want, seems like it should work.

I'm a bit unsure if to use Z390-A vs Z370-A. I read someone tested a board from the Asus Z390 line here and that it has a shutdown / restart problem, which sounds like a biggie. Also I think there was some issue regarding audio, but that doesn't concern me since I've an external audio interface. I read that the VRM is better on the newer one, but I'm unsure of how that would affect me practically?

Could anyone tell me if that MSI GPU and the Lycom PE-107 firewire card are a good idea? I'd like to use the firewire card with an RME UCX btw. I'm using the RME for drivers and a Prism Sound Lyra 2 for the converters & clock.

Also is the 850W PSU enough for all this? And is it all properly cooled using these parts? I'm trying to go as silent as possible, while still being able to play a few games.

I won't be using bluetooth or wi-fi and I probably won't be overclocking either. I'm guessing the silent build with no water cooling wouldn't be a good idea for overclocking?

Anyway, here's the build:

CPU - Intel Core i9 9900K
MOBO - Asus Prime Z390-A
Case - Fractal Design Define R6 USB-C
Case Fans - Be Quiet! SilentWings 3 (x3)
CPU Fan - Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4
GPU - MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Gaming X
Optical Drive - LG Blu-Ray DVDRW
PSU - Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 850W
RAM - Corsair Vengeance 64GB DDR4 2666MHz
SSD OS - Samsung 970 EVO 500GB M.2
SSD OS - Samsung 970 EVO 2TB M.2
SSD Audio - Samsung 860 EVO 2TB SATA (x2)
FireWire - Lycom PE-107 Firewire
Thunderbolt - Asus ThunderboltEX 3
Display - Dell 34" U3417W
 
Last edited:
Hi,

So I've done a lot of research for this build, but I'm by no means sure if it would work. I'm trying to make the perfect production machine in this price range, after a lifetime of working with inferior technology I finally have the finances to go all in on a build. My current computer is a MacBook Pro Mid-2012, which is always lagging and it's just killing my productivity. I use it mostly with Ableton 10 and Cubase 9.5. I'm trying to keep in mind that single core power is a big thing for music production computers, therefore the only processors I've considered are 8086K and 9900K.

I understand that the CPU and MOBO aren't even officially out yet, but how does the rest of this look? I've googled myself senseless, but maybe there's something I missed regarding these components?

That said I'm fairly sure the 9900k is the CPU I want, seems like it should work.

I'm a bit unsure if to use Z390-A vs Z370-A. I read someone tested a board from the Asus Z390 line here and that it has a shutdown / restart problem, which sounds like a biggie. Also I think there was some issue regarding audio, but that doesn't concern me since I've an external audio interface. I read that the VRM is better on the newer one, but I'm unsure of how that would affect me practically?

Could anyone tell me if that MSI GPU and the Lycom PE-107 firewire card are a good idea? I'd like to use the firewire card with an RME UCX btw. I'm using the RME for drivers and a Prism Sound Lyra 2 for the converters & clock.

Also is the 850W PSU enough for all this? And is it all properly cooled using these parts? I'm trying to go as silent as possible, while still being able to play a few games.

I won't be using bluetooth or wi-fi and I probably won't be overclocking either. I'm guessing the silent build with no water cooling wouldn't be a good idea for overclocking?

Anyway, here's the build:

CPU - Intel Core i9 9900K
MOBO - Asus Prime Z390-A
Case - Fractal Design Define R6 USB-C
Case Fans - Be Quiet! SilentWings 3 (x3)
CPU Fan - Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4
GPU - MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Gaming X
Optical Drive - LG Blu-Ray DVDRW
PSU - Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 850W
RAM - Corsair Vengeance 64GB DDR4 2666MHz
SSD OS - Samsung 970 EVO 500GB M.2
SSD OS - Samsung 970 EVO 2TB M.2
SSD Audio - Samsung 860 EVO 2TB SATA (x2)
FireWire - Lycom PE-107 Firewire
Thunderbolt - Asus ThunderboltEX 3
Display - Dell 34" U3417W


I am/ was in your same boat. Built mine for production with Ableton 10 and came from a mid 2012 MacBook Pro.

The only change I would consider is AMD instead of Nvidia as Nvidia stuff isn’t playing nicely with Mojave yet. But if you want to do High Sierra I’m sure this build would work great.

Oh, btw, from someone who bought that Asus TB3ex card, it sucks. Lots of weird problems and plenty of people on forums have had to RMA their cards. I would look at the new gigabyte titan ridge tb3 card. Newer tech and seems to be much much more reliable from everything I’ve read.

Other than that I’m sure it’ll be a fun build!
 
I am/ was in your same boat. Built mine for production with Ableton 10 and came from a mid 2012 MacBook Pro.

The only change I would consider is AMD instead of Nvidia as Nvidia stuff isn’t playing nicely with Mojave yet. But if you want to do High Sierra I’m sure this build would work great.

Oh, btw, from someone who bought that Asus TB3ex card, it sucks. Lots of weird problems and plenty of people on forums have had to RMA their cards. I would look at the new gigabyte titan ridge tb3 card. Newer tech and seems to be much much more reliable from everything I’ve read.

Other than that I’m sure it’ll be a fun build!

Nice! I saw your post a bit late though. Already got the ThunderboltEX 3 and found out that it sucks :d

My life doesn't depend on thunderbolt, so it's whatever. But I'm gonna try to make it work at one point, since it's working in Windows. Nvidia's been great too with High Sierra. I don't really want to move to Mojave so fast anyway, since there's a pretty good chance it'll kill some of my production software & plugins.

I read your build thread too, did you get sleep & wake working? They're working great for me - I used buddhaburger's config.plist as a starting point, check it out if you're still having trouble.
 
Nice! I saw your post a bit late though. Already got the ThunderboltEX 3 and found out that it sucks :d

My life doesn't depend on thunderbolt, so it's whatever. But I'm gonna try to make it work at one point, since it's working in Windows. Nvidia's been great too with High Sierra. I don't really want to move to Mojave so fast anyway, since there's a pretty good chance it'll kill some of my production software & plugins.

I read your build thread too, did you get sleep & wake working? They're working great for me - I used buddhaburger's config.plist as a starting point, check it out if you're still having trouble.

Hi Pli, I am looking for the same big configuration for music production on logic Audio and Ableton 10. So you built an i9 9900k processor with Hi Sierra ? Everything is working for you, I mean music and software/plug-ins... ? I am quite a beginner in building an Hackintosh, witch tuto helps you to built yours ?
 
Hello, any news about this build?

I hesitate between I7-8086K and 9900k:
  • the 8086 has 12 threads upon 6 cores, and the 9900 16 upon 8.
  • they both can OC to 5Ghz and support Hyper Threading - not sure I'll OC it though.

For a 150$ difference.

It says that it supports DDR4-2666 but does it support DDR4-2133? If I don't OC, I'd rather buy 2133 as it doesn't affect speed and it is much cheaper.



I will use this board: Gigabyte Designare Z390, and follow this guide https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...390-thunderbolt-3-i7-9700k-amd-rx-580.267551/ (hot plug Thunderbolt :headbang:)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top